Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Matthew Revis is congratulated by Jonny Bairstow after tonight’s victory.
Yorkshire v Durham, Vitality Blast Men, Friday July 3, 2026, 6.30pm, Headingley
Toss: Durham won it and elected to bat.
Teams – Yorkshire: Jonny Bairstow c/w, Adam Lyth, Will Luxton, Sam Whiteman, Matthew Revis, Moeen Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, AJ Tye, Jafer Chohan, Dan Moriarty.
Durham: Alex Lees c, Graham Clark, David Bedingham, Colin Ackermann Ollie Robinson w, Ben McKinney, Kasey Aldridge, Ben Raine, Matthew Potts, Nathan Sowter, Callum Parkinson.
Match summary: Yorkshire have one foot in the quarter-finals after an impressive victory over Durham this evening, their fifth win in nine games.
The White Rose chased a target of 206 to win off the penultimate ball, by five wickets. They needed 12 off the last over from Matthew Potts, and it was Matthew Revis who hit a straight six.
Earlier, half centuries – 66 off 36 balls and 60 off 32 – from Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali had got Yorkshire into a good position before both fell to tighten the game up.
Alex Lees top-scored with 73 off 35 balls in Durham’s 205-9, though they should have got many more. Jafer Chohan was superb for three wickets, Hassan Ali also claimed three.
And, with Nottinghamshire beating Lancashire, a gap has formed between them and Yorkshire in first and second and the rest.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Moeen Ali hit a blistering 60, including seven sixes.
Report: Alex Lees raced to a 21-ball fifty as Durham ended the powerplay on 89 without loss.
He had started the third over with three successive leg-side sixes off Moeen Ali’s off-spin and dominated a 97-run opening stand inside eight overs with Graham Clark, who holed out against Faheem Ashraf for 29.
This was a fabulous batting pitch, and while Durham scored at a fast rate early on, they lost momentum after Lees top-edged a pull at AJ Tye behind en-route to 120-3 after 10 overs.
Ben McKinney helped to briefly regain momentum with four sixes in a career best 42, but Yorkshire had much the better of the second half of the innings.
Jafer Chohan’s leg-spin was to the fore, getting Ollie Robinson caught behind and Kasey Aldridge at long-on.
Durham found or cleared the boundary 15 times in the first six powerplay overs but only 13 times through the rest of the innings.
Hassan Ali struck twice in the last over and finished with three.
Adam Lyth hit two sixes and Jonny Bairstow one, added to a flurry of boundaries, as the hosts raced to 54-0 in the fifth over of their chase.
Lyth fell for 26 to a one-handed stunner of a return catch from Ben Raine almost immediately before brilliant leg-spinner Nathan Sowter bowled Will Luxton – 81-2 in the seventh. But Bairstow bullied his way to a 26-ball fifty.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Alex Lees hits out against Yorkshire this evening.
He helped them reach the halfway point at 103-2, with Moeen also at the crease.
Bairstow fell at the start of the 12th when he drilled Raine to cover with 107 on the board.
Moeen then took on the responsibility.
When he hoisted four sixes in five balls off Aldridge’s seam in the 14th over – 146-3 – Yorkshire had the game in the palm of their hand with their ex-England all-rounder on 43.
Moeen’s fifty was reached in 28 balls with six sixes, but when he found deep square-leg off Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin, the score was 168-4 in the 17th.
Matthew Potts then failed to defend 12 off the last over, with Matthew Revis hitting a four and a winning straight six.
Magic moment: There were two, one from a Yorkshire point of view and the other from a Durham angle.
When Moeen Ali hit four sixes in five balls off Kasey Aldridge.
But what a stunning catch Ben Raine completed off his own bowling to get rid of Adam Lyth for 26 – low down to his right, one-handed. It was a remarkable catch.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Faheem Ashraf is congratulated after dismissing Durham’s Graham Clark.
Turning point: Durham lost two wickets in the ninth and 10th overs, slipping from 114-1 to 120-3. Alex Lees was caught behind off a top-edge at AJ Tye and David Bedingham bowled pulling at Jafer Chohan.
Stat of the match: Durham’s loss of momentum was indicated by the fact they found or cleared the boundary rope on 15 occasions in the first six overs of powerplay but then only 13 more times through the rest of the innings.
What they said – Moeen Ali said: “At one point, I thought they were going to get 230 or 240, or even more. But the boys, like they’ve been all year, were brilliant, especially after the powerplay.
“We got 80 off six overs without even really smacking it. It was a brilliant win. Jonny Bairstow, Matthew Revis, especially Rev. He looks in control.
“Initially, I struggled early on and couldn’t get going. But you hit one and all of a sudden something clicks. Again, it was a great team win.
“We knew that as long as we had a good start and were positive in the way we went about it, we’d have a great chance. We were pretty calm.
“It was short to one side, and it was a good wicket. We came off thinking that we’d done a great job with the ball.”
What’s next: Yorkshire are back here again on Sunday, taking on Leicestershire Foxes at 2.30pm in match number 10 of 12 in the North Group stage.
